Code Lyoko: XANA's End Game
by pstyles
Summary: After obtaining the Keys to Lyoko, XANA has become strangely inactive, after a week of failing to find answers, an old enemy of XANA arrives. What connection does he have to XANA and Lyoko? More importantly, can he be trusted?
1. Chapter 1

Code Lyoko: XANA's End Game

Episode 1: Arrival

By: Kakeru

IT WAS THREE in the morning at Cadic Academy. All was quiet on the campus until a soft metallic pop disturbed the silence of the woods surrounding the school. A pair of hands came out from one side of the manhole cover and carefully slid it aside. Ulrich climbed out of the sewer, nearly slipping on the wet grass. Yumi was next to appear. As she started to pull herself up Ulrich held his hand out. Yumi smiled as she took his hand. Next came Odd, then Jeremie, then Aelita. Odd quickly replaced the manhole cover and the five headed towards the exit to see Yumi off.

"So, did we get anything?" Odd asked with a yawn.

"I won't know anything till I examine all the data, but the bit I did get to look at didn't seem very promising." Jeremie replied rubbing his eyes. It had been the fifth time this week they'd stayed out late on Lyoko. "I'm really worried. It's been over a week since XANA obtained the Keys to Lyoko and he hasn't tried to escape again. Even worse, he hasn't been putting up much of a fight on Lyoko. It's like he doesn't care what we get from Sector Five anymore."

"Yeah. You'd think he'd try to get out of the Super Calculator as soon as possible after Franz Hopper stopped him." Yumi added.

"Maybe my father managed to trap him again and he's busy trying to find another way out?" Aelita said hopefully.

"I doubt it…" Jeremie's voice trailed off.

The rest of the conversation was unheard by the dark figure hiding in the trees. _'So XANA tried to escape eh?'_ The figure thought to himself. _'Well perhaps I can keep him entertained enough to keep him from making a second attempt.'_ He thought with a chuckle. Soon the group was out of site leaving the area clear for him to jump down. Even in the moonlight he could hardly be seen. His entire body was covered in black clothing. He bent down in front of the manhole and gave the area another look. _'Who around here would be awake at this hour anyway?'_ The mysterious man thought as he lifted the cover and placed it to the side and jumped down.

He bent his knees upon landing, placing his hand on the cold cement floor. He looked around the tunnels. _'Cute.'_ He thought noticing the three skate boards and two scooters. He then ran through the tunnels and exited at the factory, this time covering the tunnel entrance before entering the building. _'Nothing's changed since I was last here.'_ He thought as he slid down one of the ropes and entered the elevator. He pressed the button and the elevator came to life as the door closed.

The elevator stopped at the terminal level. He quickly entered the password and the door opened. _'They didn't even change that?'_ He thought as he sat down at the monitor and powered on the system. He watched as the holomap of Lyoko appeared.

After mere seconds everything was loaded. The profiles for the current 'players', as he called them, were clearly visible. He took his time and examined each one, then viewed other programs and logged users. _'So we've got Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and …Aelita? Couldn't be…'_ He stopped and thought about it for a moment before moving on. _'And Jeremie for the navigation. No as good a programmer as the old man, but good enough if they've survived this long I suppose.'_ He checked around the other programs, vehicles, the Super Scan, and a "Code Earth," then he checked the time. It was three thirty in the morning. _'Time to finish up.'_

He took a CD-rom from behind under his shirt. He carefully put the disk into the drive. A few key strokes later the CD drive was humming quietly as it read the disk. Soon several windows opened up on the screen as thousands of lines of text began scrolling down. A status bar in the center of the screen showed the progress of what was happening. In 30 seconds all the windows closed as the bar reached then end and displayed the final message: _"Installation Complete."_ The disk ejected as a new profile appeared along with the others. His task complete he shut everything down and left, quickly returning to the school grounds the way he came, recovering the manhole before jumping over the gate. _'Play time is over, XANA.'_

THE NEXT DAY, Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita walked out of the cafeteria and sat down at their usual spot to wait for Yumi. Ulrich let is head fall back against the bench. While Odd tried his best not to pass out from lack of sleep. Jeremie sat next to Ulrich and went straight to work on his laptop while Aelita leaned against the back of the bench behind him.

"Hey, check it out." Odd said pointing at the administrative building. There was a black car parked at the entrance, standing next to it was a young man talking with the principal. "New teacher?"

"Couldn't be. If so there would have been an announcement already." Jeremie said without looking. Just then Yumi arrived.

"Hey guys. Who's that talking to the principal?" She asked.

"Dunno." Ulrich replied. "Too tired to care anyway."

"I know what you mean." Yumi said with a yawn. "Anyway I'd better get to class. See ya later." She walked off and headed for the Art's and Literature building.

"We'd better do the same." Jeremie said closing his laptop. Reluctantly the four got up and trudged off to class.

"I HOPE YOUR trip went well." The principal said as he guided the young man into the Administrative building then to his office.

"Quite well actually. The company sent me first class." The young man said following the principal.

"Glad to hear it. Have any housing arrangements been made?" The principal said sitting down at his desk, motioning to a chair directly across. The young man smiled and sat down, folding his hands together in his lap.

"None as of yet. The company has given me complete freedom on that. However, I only arrived just yesterday and haven't had the chance to look for an apartment." He replied.

"Well in the mean time we have a room prepared for you in the building. The floors above us are the staff dorms. Feel free to stay there as long as you like. Now, if you don't mind I'd like to start discussing the new network Mr. Yamata."

"You can call me Puck. Everyone does." Puck said interrupting him.

"Very well, Mister Puck." The principal said as he took out a sheet of paper and handed it to his guest. "This is a description of what we currently have." The principal stared at him for a moment.

"Hmm... I see." Puck said looking it over. "You will find that this new network is much faster and a lot more efficient than your current one. Along with the new network devices you should be receiving a shipment of two new servers and fifty new computers. As per the terms of our contract I will be in charge of installing the new network and act as network manager." Puck said handing the sheet back.

"Of course. However, once the installation is complete I fear there won't be much for you to do. Due to this I have a request; currently the school has no student counselor. At the moment Yolanda, the school physician is performing that task, however, she is kept quite busy with her work as a physician and doesn't have the time required to be an effective counselor. As such, once the new network is in place, would you consider taking the position? We would of course, pay you for the extra work on top of your current company salary."

"I'll have to think about that one a bit, but barring any unforeseen circumstances I believe I will be able to accept your offer." Puck replied.

"Excellent. Very well then. Now if you wouldn't mind I'd like to show you around the school and introduce you to the students. Then I will show you to your room and you can relax until the new hardware is delivered." The principal got up from his chair and led Puck to the Science building.

"AS YOU CAN see, chemistry plays a role in your everyday life." Ms. Hertz was concluding her short lesson when she noticed the principal at the door. "Now class, I would like to turn your attention over to Principal Delmas who has an announcement for you." She said as the principal and Puck entered the room.

"Hey, it's that guy from before." Ulrich said waking Odd from his nap. Up close he could see clearly what he looked like. He had short black hair and blue eyes. He wore black sneakers, khakis, a red shirt, and a blue jacket.

"Good morning students. I'm sure you're all curious about why I've interrupted your class this morning. Well I have a big surprise for you." Principal Delmas smiled. "Very soon we will be receiving new computers throughout the school and along with them, a new network." He waited for it to sink in; delivering good news to the students and watching their faces light up was one of the things that made his job worthwhile. "Installing and managing this network will be our new staff member. Care to introduce yourself?" He gave the floor to Puck, who took a French dictionary out of his pocket.

"My... name… is…" He spoke very carefully... in very poor French. "Raizo Yamata." Puck took some chalk and wrote it on the board.

"Great." Sissy said with an evil looking smile. "He can't speak our language so we can say whatever we want. I can't believe he came without even knowing a little French! What an idiot!" She laughed, getting a few chuckles from the rest of the class.

"Actually," Puck began speaking fluently in French. "I speak the language quite well. I only wanted to find out who the loud mouth in the class was." This caused an uproar in the class, save for Sissy who growled and sunk into her seat.

"This guy is great!" Odd said laughing.

"Yeah haha!" Ulrich agreed. "Hey Sissy, maybe you can help

"Alright children that's enough quiet down." Principal Delmas said. "Now does anyone have any questions for Mr. Yamata?" A few hands were raised. Raizo looked around and picked one randomly.

"Where are you from Mr. Ya...Yamawta?" The student struggled.

"I'm from Japan, and you can refer to me as 'Mister Puck.' It's a nickname I've had since I was your age." Puck explained.

"Hey... doesn't he kind of look like my doll?" Aelita whispered to Jeremie.

"Yeah he does look a bit like it. What a strange coincidence." Jeremie whispered back.

"You don't look Japanese." Another student said covering up the private conversation. "How can you be from Japan?"

"Well, when I was born, my mother was in Japan living with a friend and her husband. My father had recently died in a plane crash and her friend was helping her through it. During my mother's stay she went into labor and died at the hospital shortly after I was born. My mom's friend, that is, my foster mother and her husband decided to adopt me. So my nationality is Japanese although my real parents were American." Puck explained. There were a few "ahh"s in the room. Another hand was raised.

"When did you learn French?" The student asked.

"When I was about your age my foster parents sent me here as a border. Apparently my birth mother had often discussed my future with them, so they honored her wishes." A few more "ahh"s.

"Are there any other questions?" Delmas asked taking the floor again. This time almost the entire class had their hands raised. Delmas looked around. "Okay we'll take one more. Go ahead Jeremie." He said making the choice. On cue there was a collective sigh of disappointment.

"The principal said you're here to install and manage a new network, can you tell us a little more about it?" Jeremie asked.

"While I can't tell you all the details, I will say that this new network will be much faster and more efficient than the current network. I'll be replacing everything with the newest available technology. I think you will all be quite pleased." Puck said leaning against the lower part of the chalkboard.

"You look pretty young for someone hired by the school to install a network." Jeremie said.

"I'm not _that_ young. Twenty-two is pretty old if you ask me." Puck replied.

The room gasped… _TWENTY-TWO?_ Was the collective thought. "You must be a genius!" One student exclaimed. "Could you help me with my homework?" Another asked. Soon it was impossible to understand what each person was saying. All of a sudden there was a loud _THWAP!_ Instantly the room was silent, all attention was on Ms. Hertz as she replaced the meter stick she had just smacked against the chalkboard.

"Thank you for coming 'Mister Puck' and Mr. Delmas." Ms. Hertz said calmly.

"Our pleasure. Now if you'll excuse us we have other classes to visit." Principal Delmas said with a nod. Then he guided Puck out of the room and class resumed.

The rest of the visits were mostly the same. Principal Delmas and Puck visited each class until they had covered just about the entire school when finally it was time for lunch. Puck grabbed a couple bags from his car before following the principal to the room the school had prepared for him. Finally he was left alone.

The room was much like the student dorms, only it was a bit larger and included a private bathroom and shower. Puck dropped his bags on the floor next to the bed and went back to move his car into the parking lot behind the school. He quickly returned to his room and fell onto the bed.

'_What a way to start the morning...'_ He thought to himself as he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. _'So I guess that Jeremie kid is pretty smart. Even so I'm surprised he's been navigating the others on Lyoko.'_ He looked at his watch and set it to go off in an hour. _'And that girl Aelita... she looks exactly like her... But no... She'd be my age now.'_ With that thought he fell asleep, the muffled sounds of students headed to lunch could be heard through the walls.

IN THE LUNCHROOM the group was just sitting down at their usual table. Everyone was exhausted, especially Yumi since she had to walk home every night and naturally got to bed later than everyone else. Everyone ate slowly and none of them spoke until Jeremie broke the silence.

"So..." he began cautiously. "I'd like to go back and get some more information from Sector 5 tonight." The others stopped eating and stared at him.

"What's the point?" Ulrich said speaking up. "We'll just get he same thing we've gotten the entire week, nothing."

"Yeah Jeremie, normally I would love to go and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd really like to get to bed early tonight." Odd added. Jeremie looked around disappointed.

"Come on guys... Yumi? Aelita? How about you?" Jeremie pleaded.

"Sorry Jeremie but it's getting harder and harder to explain my fatigue to my parents." Yumi said turning back to her tray.

"And I agree with the others Jeremie." Aelita said reluctantly. "We haven't gotten anything useful and we're all tired. Whatever XANA's up to the answer isn't in Sector 5. If it was he wouldn't let us get in so easily. We're just going to have to wait for him to make his move, and when he does we all need to be ready, that means resting as much as possible."

"Just one more time. Tomorrow is Saturday so if we go tonight then tomorrow you can go to bed early and sleep late on Sunday. Please?" Jeremie begged. The others exchanged worried looks then finally nodded in agreement.

"Fine Jeremie. Tonight is the last night. After that we get as much rest as possible and wait for XANA's next move." Ulrich said as they all went back to their lunches.

Half an hour later they headed outside. They had another half hour left of lunch during which they spent mostly sitting around Jeremie at the bench. They were just getting ready to go back to class when Jeremie's laptop started beeping.

"Change of plans guys." Jeremie said after opening his laptop. "Activated Tower in the Forest. Let's take care of it before XANA has a chance to attack." Everyone groaned as they headed for the sewer entrance in the woods.

IN PUCK'S ROOM his cell phone was making an annoying chirp. Puck moaned as he picked up his phone and looked at the time. Lunch was just ending. He sat up and flipped open his phone found he had a new text message. "Forest Tower Activated." He smiled as he got up and left his room heading outside at a relaxed pace. _'Don't rush.'_ He told himself. _'If you get there too soon you won't be able to introduce yourself properly.'_ He thought walking into the woods.

JEREMIE, ULRICH, YUMI, Odd, and Aelita had already arrived at the factory. Jeremie stepped off the elevator at the terminal level while the others headed for the scanners. He was just about to launch the transfer program we he noticed a new profile in with the others. _'What the… How did this get here?'_

"Hey Jeremie! What's the hold up?" Ulrich called from the scanner room.

"There's something weird on the monitor…" He shook his head. "Don't worry about it right now. I'm starting the transfer." He called back.

"Something weird?" Ulrich said, exchanging looks with the others. "Are you sure it's safe?" He called back to Jeremie.

"Yeah I checked the transfer protocols and nothing's been changed. Now let's hurry before XANA attacks!" Jeremie yelled back.

IN THE SCANNER room the others reluctantly entered the scanners. First Ulrich and Yumi.

"TRANSFER ULRICH, TRANSFER Yumi. Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Yumi… Virtualization!"

ON LYOKO ULRICH and Yumi arrived safely, dropping down to the floor of the forest. The three vehicles appeared a second later. "I've programmed your vehicles for you and I'm sending Odd and Aelita now." Jeremie said from the real world.

"TRANSFER ODD, TRANSFER Aelita. Scanner Odd, Scanner Aelita… Virtualization!"

ODD AND AELITA dropped down behind Ulrich and Yumi. "How do you feel guys?" They all heard Jeremie's voice. Ulrich looked around.

"We're all fine." Ulrich said.

"I thought so. This is still really weird though." Jeremie said.

"What is?" Yumi asked.

"There's a new profile. 'Puck.' That's what it says." Jeremie replied.

"Puck… isn't that the name of that new computer guy the Principle was introducing today?"

"Yeah… it may just be a coincidence though. Anyway, the tower is south east of your location. Be careful, with XANA's new power there's no telling what to expect." Jeremie warned as the group got on the vehicles. Aelita and Yumi shared the overboard as usual.

OUTSIDE PUCK WAS just arriving at the factory. He quietly slid down one of the ropes and got into the elevator. He headed directly for the scanners.

IN THE TERMINAL room, Jeremie was watching the display nervously. _'Why now?'_ He thought to himself. He was so busy he didn't notice the security feed from the elevator showing Puck enter the scanner room. Just then Jeremie heard Ulrich yell.

"AHHH! Jeremie? What are you doing? We're being attacked by Krabs... _lots_ of them! Why didn't you warn us!" Ulrich demanded as he avoided the laser blasts from the Krabs. He couldn't believe how many there were as he drew his sword and sped forward with Odd following closely behind him in the air. Yumi and Aelita turned and headed behind one of the tree trunks for cover.

"What Krabs? They aren't on my screen! Ulrich! XANA has found a way to hide his monsters from me. I'll see what I can do to get it back but it will take some time!" Jeremie said as he began typing furiously.

DOWN IN THE scanner room Puck was awestruck by the scanners. _'It's been so long…'_ He thought putting his hand on one of them. _'Not a spec of dust… Just like I remember.'_

ON LYOKO ULRICH was speeding past most of the Krabs, swinging his katana, trying to take out as many as he could. As he made a turn to the right one of the Krabs shot Ulrich in the shoulder. Ulrich shouted in pain and nearly lost control of his bike. "Jeremie, I just got hit how many life points do I have left?"

"This can't be right!" Jeremie exclaimed. "Ulrich you just lost _half_ your life points how many times did you get hit!"

"ONCE!" Ulrich shouted.

"This can't be... How could XANA make them so powerful?" Jeremie was stunned... He just stopped moving, stopped talking, he barely even breathed.

"Jeremie? JEREMIE! What should we do?" Odd shouted as he weaved through the trees managing to avoid all the shots aimed at him. He fired back calling out "Laser Arrow!" hitting one of them dead center in the weak spot… But nothing happened. It just kept firing. "Oh man." Odd said to himself. "XANA must have given you guys a big upgrade. Too bad he forgot to upgrade your looks!" Odd said just as he managed to dodge another volley of laser shots.

"Okay Aelita, you should be safe here." Yumi said dropping Aelita off away from the monsters before heading back. She took out one of her fans and threw it at a Krab only for the Krab to duck down completely avoiding it. It bent its head up and began firing at Yumi. "Wha?" Yumi said startled. "When did they learn to do _that!_"

BACK IN THE factory Jeremie was still just sitting there staring blankly at the screen. The others were still shouting for support. "Jeremie what should we do?" "Jeremie I need more arrows!" "Jeremie they're not going down how do we take them out?" Finally a horrible thought crept into his mind. _'There's nothing I can do…'_ He thought to himself… That's when he heard a new voice... Not from Lyoko, from below him, from the scanner room.

"Hey!" The voice shouted. "Hey you up there! Hurry and send me there's no time!"

That snapped Jeremie back to reality. "Who are you!" He shouted back.

"Who do you think!" Puck shouted back. He took a deep breath before shouting again. "I promise I'm not one of XANA's creations. I'm here to help."

Jeremie was having trouble deciding. The guys _were_ in trouble… But this could also be one of XANA's tricks. Even so none of XANA's creations had ever made a promise. Mostly they had been seductive, trying to get him to take them willingly to the factory to send them to Lyoko. Then again, XANA has gotten a lot smarter and a lot stronger. Jeremie grabbed his head and shut his eyes tight. _'What should I do!'_ Just then he heard a scream through his earpiece… It was Aelita!

AELITA PRESSED HER back against the virtual tree trunk. A Krab had virtualized behind her. She'd noticed just in time to avoid its first shot, but now it was approaching her slowly, a heavy **thud** with each step it took. "Jeremie… help….." Aelita pleaded.

JEREMIE'S EYES WENT wide. _'No… Not Aelita!'_ That was it. He made his decision, for better or worse, he _had_ to do something. "Okay." He called down. "Get into the scanner. I'll transfer you."

"About time!" Puck shouted stepping into one of the scanners. It had been a long time since he'd been inside. The feeling was almost nostalgic as he turned to face the closing scanner doors. He closed his eyes as Jeremie started up the process...

"Transfer..." On the screen Puck's profile was selected. "Puck." Next a window opened up displaying Puck's body outlined in green. "Scanner Puck."

Inside the scanner Puck felt lighter, loose ends of his clothing began to float, his hair flowing upwards as the scanner started humming gently.

Jeremie took a deep breath and finally… "VIRTUALIZATION!"

A gust of wind from below, Puck's hair stood on end as his body was taken apart and transformed into digital data…

ON LYOKO PUCK'S body formed and dropped to the ground.

END

Next Episode:

PUCK WASTED NO time. He quickly bent his knees and jumped into the sky, going high and higher until he landed safely at the top of one of the trees. He turned to face south east and then began jumping from treetop to treetop as fast as he could. _'I hope no one gets devirtualized before I get to make my grand re-entrance.' _Puck thought with a smile.

Jeremie: What's this?

Odd: A preview of the next episode.

Ulrich: What? We're giving it away?

Yumi: No I think it's just supposed to be a teaser so they'll read the next part.

Aelita: Well that's O.K. isn't it?

Ulrich: NO WAY! It's embarrassing enough to need saving! Now I have to sit here and watch it happen not once but TWICE in the preview?

Yumi: umm.. Ulrich you weren't supposed to tell them that... It's not in the preview.

Ulrich(blushing): oops... my bad...

Jeremie: Ugh... Thanks a LOT Ulrich. Well if you're going to go and give everything away I'm leaving. (exits stage left)

Odd, Yumie, Aelita: See-ya later. (exits stage right)

Ulrich: Wait! Don't leave me all alone out here! Aw man.. Hey. Readers. Yeah you guys. Do me a favor and read the next episode like you didn't hear what I said earlier okay? Promise? Great. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go apologize to Yumi before she makes me sleep on the couch again.


	2. Chapter 2

Code Lyoko: XANA's End Game

Episode 2: Questions

By: Kakeru

PUCK OPENED HIS eyes and looked around. Everything looked exactly as he remembered. _'No time for sightseeing._' He thought as he drew his weapon from behind him. It was a bow that barely stuck out from his back.. "Okay, I'm here. Where are the others?" He asked.

"South east of you. I'm sorry I couldn't send you closer. I'm afraid I don't have a vehicle for you either, you'll have to go on foot." Jeremie said in a worried tone. _'Did I do the right thing?'_ The question repeated in his mind.

"Very well." Puck replied as he turned to face the southeastern path. He aimed his weapon straight ahead and drew an arrow. He slipped it onto the bow string. "Super Sight." He called. Just in front of the point of the arrow, a round window opened circled by short green lines. In this window he saw the crab approaching Aelita. He pulled the arrow back on the string. "Jeremie, you made the right choice." He said just before letting go of the arrow. It shot forward leaving a streak of ones and zeros behind. It zipped along the path as it closed in on the target.

The Krab in front of Aelita had stopped. It was right in front of her face when it began charging up its laser. She watched in horror as the charge peaked. All of a sudden she heard an explosion and quickly turned away and shut her eyes. _'That's it! I'm dead!'_ She thought hopelessly... A few seconds later she opened her eyes. "What?" She said. The Krab was gone. "The Krab... exploded? But who?" She turned and looked back towards the others. They were all still struggling with the rest of the Krabs; they hadn't even noticed the one near her. "Jeremie... what? How? Who?"

"IT WAS PUCK." Jeremie replied smiling. _'I made the right choice!'_ He thought with glee. Finally feeling useful again, he went back to work on the monster detection and identification program.

BACK AT THE arrival point Puck had watched through the Super Sight window and made sure he'd gotten the kill. The window closed as Puck sheathed his weapon, closed his eyes, and began to hum. Vines sprouted from the ground and wrapped around his feet before dispersing into tiny particles of light. His boots began to glow faintly for a moment before it faded away. Puck stopped humming and opened his eyes.

ON THE MONITOR Puck's profile changed from the usual golden borders to a dark green that matched the forest; the words "Lyokosync: Forest Region" appeared just above it. Jeremie stopped working and stared at it for a moment in confusion. _'That's strange...'_ he thought to himself before he went back to work. Scolding himself for getting distracted at such a critical time.

PUCK WASTED NO time. He quickly bent his knees and jumped into the sky, going higher and higher until he landed safely at the top of one of the trees. He made sure he was facing south east and then began jumping from treetop to treetop as fast as he could. _'I hope no one gets devirtualized before I get to make my grand entrance.' _Puck thought with a smile.

ULRICH, ODD, AND Yumi were desperately trying to hold on. Each of them had taken a hit from a Krab and they were now so busy trying to avoid getting hit a second time they were unable to fight back. Ulrich started back on the path heading northwest towards Aelita. Just as he passed a tree a hidden Krab managed to kick the Overbike and knock it over the edge. Ulrich fell towards the digital void; the Overbike hit first and exploded on contact. It was almost too late when Odd managed to catch him on the Overboard at the last second.

"Man... These guys have gotten really tough! I can't believe how strong XANA is now!" Odd said as they reached the Forest floor. Ulrich jumped off the Overboard and drew his katana and used it to block the laser shots from the Krabs.

"Tell me about it!" Ulrich said as he deflected another shot. He moved to deflect another but the blast knocked his sword out of his hand. Odd flew off on the Overboard as Ulrich jumped behind a tree. He turned, pressed his back against the trunk and let out a sigh. _'This is too much.'_ Ulrich thought to himself.

That's when dozens of arrows came down from the sky followed by streaks of ones and zeros. Each of them took out a Krab; going all the way through to the Forest floor. Seconds later the Krabs that were hit exploded drawing the attention of Ulrich, Yumie, Odd, and Aelita. All of them looked down at the arrows, then up at the sky to see where they came from. Then they all saw him.

Puck in mid-jump took aim and began firing arrows so fast his arm was a blur. He kept shooting until he landed on the next tree top and waited until he heard the explosions of the Krabs before jumping out again. This time he knew he had their attention because the first thing he saw after he jumped out was a large number of Krabs firing directly at him. This didn't stop him as he took aim with his bow again. "Rapidshot." Puck said as his arms flashed and he began firing again.

Puck repeated this process several times until there were only five Krabs left. Then he jumped down and landed safely right next to Ulrich, who looked and finally got a good look at him. He looked almost _exactly_ like Aelita's doll!

Puck glanced at Ulrich for a split second before turning his attention back to the five Krabs in front of him. He sheathed his bow and spoke. "Katana." The quiver and bow on his back began glowing as their form shifted to that of a sword, only it was strapped on upside down. Instead of behind his right shoulder, the handle was poking out near his waist while the bottom end came out from behind his left shoulder. Puck grasped the handle and drew the sword out quickly. The blade was made up of ones and zeros glowing a dark blue as they coursed through it.

Puck held the sword with the blade behind his arm, pressing the dull edge against him. He then positioned his arm in front of his face and leaned backwards slightly.

The Krabs began charging their lasers, just before they fired, Puck ran forward and barely dodged the lasers by jumping to the side towards a tree. Puck turned his body so that his feet pressed against the trunk, he bent his knees and pushed off it, rocketing him forward just above the heads of the Krabs. He spun as he passed over head taking out two in a row. Puck slid as he landed on the ground dragging his left hand until he came to a stop as the two Krabs exploded with a flash.

The remaining Krabs turned and fired. Puck blocked the shots with a few swift motions of his sword and lunged forward again, this time he flipped over one and slashed the eye on the top of it's body several times before landing behind it. As it exploded Puck ran under the Krab next to it and ran it through with his sword. It exploded shortly afterwards leaving Puck and the last Krab face to face. Puck took his stance once again, pressing the dull edge of his blade against his arm, holding it in front of his face. The Krab started charging it's lasers and Puck prepared to strike again when all of a sudden Yumi cried out "HEEYAH!" and threw both her fans followed by Odd shouting "LASER ARROW" as he fired from both arms. Both scored direct hits causing Krab to explode in a bright flash.

"Hmph." Puck stood straight up and sheathed his katana.

"Aelita GO!" Ulrich shouted. On cue Aelita ran past him.

"Here Aelita!" Yumi shouted. Aelita reached out and grabbed Yumi's hand who quickly pulled her onto the Overwing and flew straight for the tower.

Meanwhile Ulrich picked up his own sword and sheathed it while Odd came down and stepped off the Overboard in front of Puck.

"That was incredible!" Odd said excitedly. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

Puck didn't reply. Instead he looked over at Ulrich who glared right back at him. Ulrich was about to speak when Jeremie spoke up from the real world.

"Great job guys! I was able to patch up the program just in time to see that last Krab destroyed. Aelita's just deactivated the tower. I'm bringing you in." Jeremie said. Puck and Odd devirtualized first followed shortly after by Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita.

THE RIDE ON the elevator was uncomfortably silent. Puck was leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed, the others also leaned against the walls, but unlike Puck they did it out of exhaustion from the trip.

Many different questions went through their heads. _'How did he know about Lyoko?' 'How could he have known we'd need his help?' 'Just who is this guy anyway?'_

A moment later the elevator doors opened and the five joined Jeremie at the terminal. Jeremie looked at them and saw the usual picture after a tough trip to Lyoko. It was several minutes before anyone spoke. Finally Odd broke the silence.

"It was incredible Jeremie. He took out the Krabs like they were nothing. Odd said. "But..." Odd turned to Puck. "How did you know?"

"About what?" Puck inquired.

"About Lyoko, about us, about everything!" Yumi said answering for Odd.

"I see. I'm sure you've all got a lot of questions for me. I'll be glad to answer a few of them, but first you need to tell me a few things. You see I've been gone for quite some time, and while I just blindly jumped in today, it's not a risk I like to take. So before I answer any of your questions, you need to tell me everything that's happened since you started going to Lyoko in as much detail as you can manage." Puck said with a cold expression on his face.

"That's not really fair." Ulrich said glaring at Puck.

"Life isn't fair. If you don't want to tell me that's fine, I'll leave now and I won't bother you again; nor will I come to help you on Lyoko. It's your choice." Puck said. The others exchanged a few looks with Jeremie and eventually gave a nod in agreement.

"Alright. Where should I start?" Jeremie asked.

"The only place you can. The beginning." Puck replied as he sat down on the floor. Jeremie began explaining all that had happened from finding the super computer to XANA obtaining the Keys to Lyoko and Aelita recovering her lost human memories. Everyone took their turns explaining each event while Puck simply sat there not saying a word, merely nodding to acknowledge that he'd heard them.

Once they'd finished, instead of replying Puck stood up and paced around the room deep in thought. Finally he walked over to Aelita and stood in front of her. She looked up at him and tried to smile, but came out with an awkward look on her face. Puck ignored this and knelt down until their eyes met. He stared at her for a few moments before speaking.

"You got _all_ your memories back?" Puck asked. This struck Aelita by surprise and it was a moment before she answered.

"Well... I think so... I guess I can't really be sure..." Aelita replied.

"Just tell me... do you remember me? I'm positive now that you're the same Aelita I knew when I attended Kadic myself. I may have grown, but I don't look much different from back then. Just please... tell me you remember..." Puck said almost pleading.

"I.. I'm sorry but I don't." Aelita said shaking her head.

"I see..." Puck said as he stood and looked away. He walked away from the group for a moment and stared at the Holomap. He took a deep breath before turning back to face them. "Alright well, since I'm caught up now, I guess I'll explain a few things." Puck said as he sat down again. "First, I knew to come because along with my profile I installed a program that sends a text message to my phone whenever there's an activated tower. That you actually needed help was pure coincidence. Second, I know about Lyoko and XANA because I've been there before. In fact you'd be interested to know that I also knew Aelita before she was virtualized by Franz Hopper. Aelita, myself, and two others assisted Franz Hopper with his experiments using the super computer and were the first to fight XANA after he went rouge. Why Aelita can't remember any of this, I can only theorize, but my best guess would be that it was Franz Hopper who erased those memories before he spent all that time using the Return to the Past function."

"How can you be so much stronger than us!" Ulrich blurted out.

"How can you be so weak?" Puck shot back. "I don't know what you're problem is, but all of you were pathetic out there. Though I'm sure it's not entirely your fault." Puck said looking over at Jeremie for a moment. "_My_ abilities and weapons were programmed by Franz Hopper himself. If I'm stronger than you it's because your programs are poorly written."

"Hey!" Jeremie said taking offense. "I worked _very_ hard on their weapons and their abilities! I did the best I could at the time!"

"But have you touched them since? Have you made any attempt to patch up any errors or bugs? Have you even _thought_ about trying to improve them?" Puck said glaring at Jeremie. Everyone was pretty uncomfortable now, and Jeremie was too stunned to reply.

"Hey! You can't talk to him like that! Jeremie works really hard to support us on Lyoko! You have no right to say such things!" Yumi said angrily.

Puck let out a sigh, looked at Jeremie and said "I didn't mean to jump on you like that, I'm sorry."

"Forget it." Jeremie said keeping his head down. "It's true I haven't even thought about trying to boost those programs. It was never an issue before..."

"Well, I studied a fair amount of programming in college. Maybe I can help you with that tonight, but it's not all you, and it's not like I was this strong before. As I told your class earlier this morning, I spent two years studying martial arts with no interruptions. I would be lying if I said I could do all that when I was your age." Puck looked around to make sure everyone had calmed down. "Okay, are there any other questions?"

"Yeah, when did you install your profile? It wasn't there last night." Jeremie asked.

"I did it while you were all sneaking back to your dorms last night. Anything else?" Puck asked.

"Can you tell us more about when you worked with my father?" Aelita asked.

Puck looked at his watch before replying. "That would take too long, and school is almost out. If you're not back by the time the final bell rings the teachers are going to wonder where you went. But... Perhaps we can talk about it at dinner? Say that little five star place downtown?" The group exchanged an excited look.

"You're taking us out to dinner?" Odd asked excitedly.

"Actually..." Puck looked away blushing a little. "I was only asking Aelita."

"What! Why can't we come? You said you were just going to talk about what happened before with Franz Hopper!" Ulrich exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm going to, but mostly I want to speak with her about some personal matters and that doesn't involve you. So what do you say Aelita?" Puck looked right at her with a hopeful look on his face.

Aelita had been standing there in shock since Puck had said he was only asking her. Her face had turned fairly red from his last few statements.

Jeremie was shocked as well, and was starting to feel pretty upset that Puck had so bluntly asked out his girlfriend. After a few moments, Jeremie was shocked again when Aelita answered.

"I...I'd love to..." Aelita replied looking at the ground. She was so surprised she spoke her answer too softly the first time and had to repeat it.

"Great! I hope you have something formal you can wear. I'll meet you outside the Administrative building at 7. And don't worry about the principal. I'll come up with an excuse." Puck said with a smile. Aelita simply nodded. There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Puck finally spoke again. "Uh... anyway we'd better get back. The last bell is going to ring any minute now." And with that everyone got onto the elevator and headed back to the school.

END

Next Episode:

Puck: WOOOOHOOOO! I'm going on a HOT date with Aelita!

Aelita: blush

Jeremie: Hey! Don't do anything I haven't gotten to do with her!

Puck: Sure, but what have you done with her?

Jeremie: uh.. Well she kissed me once...

Puck: hmm. that's it? well no promises.

Jeremie: hey!

Ulrich: That's it? A date? is that all there is?

Puck: Well... there _might_ be something else... HEY! Why am I in Milly's room at the end? AW WHAT THE !

Odd: CAREFUL! You can't say that word. This is a kids show after all.

Yumi: Really? So that's why I was wearing a sports bra when in that episode I took my shirt off...

Odd: You took your shirt off... AND I MISSED IT?

Ulrich: Hey that's my girlfrie..err.. Friend you're talking about!

Yumi: Is that all we are? Fine! Come on Odd I'll take my shirt off for you! leaves with Odd

Ulirch: Hey! No! Wait! Yumi I was joking!

Puck: uh... I better go stop them... leaves

Jeremie: You're not going to say anything? leaves

Aelita: Muahahaha! My plan worked perfectly! Now I rule the episode preview! AHAHAHAHAHAHA.. wait... it's over? NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


	3. Chapter 3

Code Lyoko: XANA's End Game

Episode 3: Answers

By: Kakeru

It had been a quiet walk back to the school as the group reached the manhole hidden in the forest. Once the school was in sight Puck stopped in front of everyone and turned around to speak.

"Okay, I'm going to go have a talk with the principal. Since you missed all your afternoon classes it won't be easy to keep you out of detention, but I'm sure I can convince him to be lenient." Puck said. The group nodded. "Alright I'm going to circle around and come out a different way to avoid looking suspicious. Oh, and Jeremie, I'll meet you at the factory at ten tonight. We have a lot of work to do."

"Whatever." Jeremie muttered, not really wanting to go. Puck just nodded and headed off towards the school gates. The rest of them continued walking into the courtyard, said they're goodbyes to Yumi and went to Jeremie's room.

"What's wrong Jeremie?" Aelita asked once the door was shut.

"You know why I'm upset." Jeremie replied as he sat down at his computer.

"Because Puck was so hard on us? I'm sure he has his reasons. If he really did fight XANA with my father and I in the past then maybe he's just frustrated because he's more experienced." Aelita said trying to calm herself down as much as the others.

"It's not that. Not for me at least." Jeremie said as he typed on his computer. Odd and Ulrich looked at each other and quietly left knowing very well what Jeremie was upset about. Certainly it hurt him to have his programming criticized like that, but not as much as hearing Aelita say "yes" to a date with Puck.

"You can't blame me for wanting to know more about my past. I still don't remember my human life very clearly and he has the answers." Aelita tried to explain.

"But a _date_? Did you have to agree to go out with him? Couldn't you have just talked about it with him here at school?" Jeremie turned to face her. He was on the brink of tears, though he tried his best to hold them back.

"We're just going to dinner! It's not a date." Aelita was getting a little upset herself now. "Jeremie I just want to know about myself, about my life before it was taken away from me."

"I... I know. And I'm sorry but I just can't deal with this right now. Just a week ago I almost lost you to XANA... I don't want to lose you to someone else..." Jeremie trailed off.

"Jeremie..." Aelita blushed. Jeremie rarely spoke to her in this way.

"Just go... Leave me alone. I have school work to catch up on." Jeremie walked over to the door and flung it open.

"... Fine." Aelita said on the verge of tears at Jeremie's change in tone. She had expected him so say something romantic, something to let her know it was going to be okay... But instead he threw her out. She ran straight back to her own on the second floor and slammed the door.

THREE HOURS LATER the dinner bell rang. Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremie met outside at the bench. Aelita came out a few moments later and walked by without saying anything. Her pink dress shimmered in the evening light as she walked over to Puck's car parked in front of the administrative building. Puck was leaning against the passenger side of the car, he wore a black suit with a black dress shirt and looked as if he was going to a wedding or a ball. As Aelita approached he opened the door for her and helped her into the car before closing it and getting into the drivers seat.

"Okay Jeremie, what happened between you and Aelita?" Ulrich asked as soon as the car drove off.

"Nothing." Jeremie replied turning away. "Everything is fine."

"Not when you say it like that. Come on Jeremie, you can't hide it. Aelita didn't even _look_ at us when she walked by." Ulrich said a little annoyed.

"We just had a little fight. That's all... It's not like I care who she goes out with..." Jeremie trailed off.

"So _that's_ what it is. Come on Jeremie lighten up. There must be a good reason he wanted to talk to her privately. If it's anything we need to know she'll tell us." Odd said giving Jeremie a pat on the back.

"Would you say the same thing if it had been Yumi he'd asked and not Aelita?" Jeremie shot back catching Ulrich by surprise.

"I... well... That's different! Yumi didn't even live here back then and she would have only been 4 year's old then! He'd have no reason to ask her!" Ulrich said defensively.

"So? He came from a company in Japan remember? He could have known Yumi before she moved. So it's no different. I can tell by your voice you'd feel exactly like I do right now." Jeremie paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "But at least if he had taken Yumi you wouldn't have had to see him when he got back... I have to go spend the night with him at the factory working on your weapons. How am I supposed to act around him after he's not only insulted me but taken my girlfrie..." Jeremie caught himself, his face turning red. "F..friend, out to some fancy restaurant? I can't just ignore it can I?"

"Jeremie..." Ulrich looked at Odd. "Come on. Let's go get some dinner. You don't want to spend the night hungry." Ulrich and Odd pulled Jeremie off the bench and forced him into the cafeteria.

AT THE RESTAURANT Puck and Aelita were seated in a private corner away from the other customers. That didn't prevent Puck from getting a few awkward looks when he and Aelita were guided to their table. They were quick to order leaving them a little time for some small talk. Puck asked Aelita a few things about school and how she was doing in her classes, if she was getting along well with everyone...

_'Maybe Jeremie was right...'_ Aelita thought to herself. _'Maybe Puck really just wanted to take me out on a date...'_ The thought lingered in her mind and she began to get worried as she finally asked herself what kind of person is Puck really? This question remained in her mind even after dinner arrived and the conversation continued. Puck continued to ask her about things at school and what her interests were... It wasn't until after they'd finished dinner and the empty dishes had been taken away that the conversation finally turned to a different topic...

"Well, now that the waiter won't be bothering us," Puck started. "I want to talk about the real reason I asked you to join me tonight, Aelita Hopper." This took Aelita by surprise. "You probably haven't been called that in a while. Not that you really could use that name, considering you're pretending to be Odd's cousin, and the press you'd get if you went by your real name."

"Press?" Aelita choked out.

"I guess it's no surprise you don't know about your own fame. It was almost a decade ago." Puck said as he handed Aelita an old newspaper clipping. She read the headline "Local Scientist and his Daughter go Missing. Authorities puzzled." Right below that were two pictures in black and white.

"This is..." Aelita dropped the newspaper clipping.

"That's the article that was printed after Franz Hopper virtualized you and himself. To the world, it was as if you had disappeared into thin air. Had you chosen to go by Aelita Hopper instead of Stones, the press would have found out and flocked to Cadic to interview you." Puck explained. Aelita was shocked. She didn't know what to say until finally she started to cry.

"All this time I've been here.. I never once thought about the people I may have known before. Even after I got back my memories and I was sure I was human... I'm so selfish... I never took a moment to think about the people who cared about me before." It was then her eyes went wide as looked straight at Puck. "You knew me then right? You must have! I can't imagine we weren't good friends if you knew my father... and about Lyoko... Please tell me... what was I like?" Aelita looked at Puck with a pleading look. Puck looked at her a moment and smiled.

"You haven't changed a bit. Even without your memories your personality has remained the same. You're still the same kind, loving person I knew back at Cadic. Back then you had lot's of friends, and always did a good job of helping everyone out when they need it. You're two closest friends friends were the other two members of our Lyoko team. However, even though you couldn't tell everyone about Lyoko, you still managed to form many close relationships with most of your classmates." Puck smiled.

"But... you mentioned only two of my closest friends were with us on Lyoko... what about you? Weren't you a close friend?" Aelita asked, wondering what he was leaving out.

"No. I wasn't your friend." Puck said.

"Wha...what? How can that be? If you weren't my friend then how did you know my father and Lyoko?" Aelita asked confused.

"Because... we were much closer than that... You and I..." Puck took a deep breath and looked Aelita in the eye. "We were lovers." Aelita's world was turned upside down by that last sentence. The word "lovers" rang through her head so loud she felt as if it would split her in two. She had no idea how long it was before she finally managed to speak. But to her it felt like hours.

"I... I had no idea... We were so close... Even with my human memories back... how could I forget so many important parts of my life?" Aelita choked out.

"Don't worry... It's only been a week and you got all your memories back. It will take time for your mind to sort through your past." Puck tried to comfort her. _'How am I going to break the worse news to her?'_ Puck thought to himself.

"But... we were lovers..." Aelita said quietly, beginning to blush at the thought.

"Well... yes... we were very much in love... But we never got _that_ close... I mean we... I, was only a kid back then. But Aelita... when I got the news that you had disappeared... I knew what had happened... Well... I mean I had a pretty good idea. Still... I was devastated... for a long time I hardly ate or did anything. Eventually however... I managed to accept losing you. To the world, you and your father are dead... To me... it was the same." Aelita looked at Puck, barely able to accept everything he'd just told her. "But.. depsite that," Puck continued. "I still love you." Aelita snapped back to reality.

"You... after so long... I..." Aelita stumbled over her words, not sure what to say.

"However, it's no longer possible for there to be anything between us. As I said I accepted your death a long time ago. And I wouldn't want to get between you and Jeremie." Puck said.

"Between me and Jeremie?" Aelita asked.

"It's fairly obvious. He loves you. And you love him. I was a little surprised you didn't say good-bye to him before we left, I guess I've already caused a rift between you two. Don't worry. I'll make it clear to Jeremie tonight what my intentions are. Hopefully you'll be able to work things out with him after that." Puck leaned on the table close to Aelita. "But this isn't the reason I came. As important as it sounds, that is entirely personal, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I came here for my own selfish reasons." Puck said almost whispering.

"What? Then why?" Aelita asked leaning on the table as well.

"Remember I told you about the other two members of our Lyoko group? Well, I actually stayed in touch with them after our adventures ended. We talked regularly over the phone and through email, but a few months ago suddenly the emails and the calls stopped. It was really strange, but after a while I let it go and figured maybe they were having issues with the phone company and couldn't get a connection. Then about a month ago I finally got a strange phone call from one of them. You probably haven't remembered him yet, but his name is Claude, and when he called me... he was really stressed out and extremely panicked. He kept saying _'They took her. Now they're after me.'_ I tried to get him to calm down... but he was too wound up... then he finally said _'They... they're after me... they're after you too! I'm sorry.. they're probably tracing this... They know. They'll hunt you down because you know too! Because you were part of it! Run... please... Run and be safe! Find her! If you can... Protect her! Oh god... they've found me! They'll find you! Run!'_ Then the phone died..." Puck paused for a moment. "I didn't know what to do after that. I thought perhaps he was drunk or on some sort of drug... Then a couple days later I noticed that there was always this same black SUV everywhere I went. I thought I was just being paranoid at first but the next day I decided to write down it's license place number. I checked it as discreetly as I could whenever I saw it. Every time it was the same car. That's when I decided to leave. So I quickly set up the deal with the school and left under a new name. That's why I'm here." Puck finished his story. Aelita had been sitting there quietly the entire time listening. It was a terrifying story, one she'd have to let the other's know about, but there was still one question remaining in her mind.

"But then... How did you know we needed help on Lyoko?" Aelita asked.

"Well, I wasn't aware you'd needed help, but I did know Lyoko was still active. Occaisionally I'll read the local news online and to anyone who knows about Lyoko and how it works, how XANA attacks, well, stories that erupt out of those events stick out like a sore thumb. I've known that Lyoko's been active for almost a year. However it never occurred to me that you might need help because the incidents were always resolved. So I figured whoever was managing it was doing a decent job." Puck replied after leaning back in his seat. He checked his watch. "Well, I should probably get you back to the school. I told the principal I'd get you back before lights out." Puck said.

"Alright." Aelita said as they both got up. Puck paid the bill and then dropped Aelita off in front of the student dorms before parking in front of the Administrative building. He hurried to his room and changed into some casual clothing. Then came the difficult part.

PUCK KNOCKED ON the door to Jeremie's room. He figured Jeremie would probably still be at the school given how upset he'd appeared to be earlier. After a couple seconds Jeremie opened the door and looked straight into Puck's eyes.

"Come on, let's get to the factory. We've got a lot of work to do." Puck said.

"Go yourself. My programming is no good anyway remember?" Jeremie snapped.

"I never said that. If that was my opinion I never would have asked you to come to the factory with me in the first place." Puck said.

"You don't have to say it. It's written all over your face." Jeremie replied angrily.

"Look kid. I know what you're upset about. Yes, I took your girlfriend out on a little date. That's no crime. You don't own her, and most of what we talked about didn't even involve you. The parts that did, well, Aelita will tell you about them later. But for now, we need to get to the factory and fix those programs of yours. I can't fight XANA alone, and whether it's your fault or not, the others are too weak to help right now." Puck said glaring at Jeremie.

"It's not my fault! XANA got stronger! I can't help that!" Jeremie said raising his voice a little.

"XANA getting stronger isn't your fault no, but you did ignore the weapon and ability programs so you could concentrate on a patch for a virus that never even existed in the first place." Puck sighed. "You couldn't have known it wasn't a virus before, I'll give you that, but that doesn't excuse ignoring the other programs." Puck whispered, hoping Jeremie would do the same. Jeremie just let his head fall, leaving it hanging, staring at the ground.

"You're right. And that's just making me even angrier. You've been right since you showed up. I focused too much on one thing and almost lost to XANA because of it. If it weren't for you, who knows what XANA would have done after deleting Aelita.With his new powers, with Aelita out of the way he could have done anything he'd wanted. I couldn't protect her... And while at first I was happy you came... now after all that's been said, I wish you'd never showed up. But you did show up, and now we've got a job to do." Jeremie said finishing his little speech. He looked up at Puck with a slight grin. _'This was the right decision.'_ He thought to himself.

"Alright. That's what I've been waiting to hear. Come on let's show XANA he's not the only one who can upgrade his warriors." Puck said with a smile. With that they snuck out of the building, and headed to the factory via the sewers.

THE NEXT DAY Jeremie didn't show up for his morning classes and Puck was seen only briefly in the hallway. That afternoon Jeremie met up with the other's for lunch as usual, and announced with unusual glee that they'd be meeting at the factory after school. The rest of the school day went by about as normally as it could with the threat of XANA hanging over their heads. When the bell finally rang... Jeremie rushed off to the factory without waiting for the others. When Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita finally arrived Jeremie had already prepped the scanners.

"Just head to Lyoko guys. I can't wait to show you." Jeremie said excitedly. The others got back into the elevator and went down to the scanners. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi stepped in first.

"Scanner... Transfer... Virtualization!"

ON LYOKO ULRICH, Odd, and Yumi appeared in the sky and dropped to the floor of the Mountain Region. Aelita joined them a few moments later.

"So Jeremie, what's this all about?" Odd asked.

"Why don't you find out for yourselves? Try shooting a rock with one of your arrows Odd." Jeremie said.

Odd exchanged looks with Ulrich and Yumi then took aim at a nearby rock and fired two darts at it. Instead of exploding on impact, they pierced the rock and began flashing, five seconds later they exploded violently sending chunks of rock flying in all directions! Odd was quick to react as he called out "Shield!" A large purple energy barrier appeared around the entire group just in time to protect them as several large chunks impacted the shield.

"As you can see, Puck and I increased the area your shield protects, we also managed to make it a but more durable. However, it still won't last long against the attacks XANA's monsters. Also, your Laser Arrows will now explode 5 seconds after impact." Jeremie told them.

"XANA better watch out for me now! I won't be so easy on his monsters next time!" Odd said excitedly doing a celebratory back flip.

"That's great Odd! Let's see what I can do!" Yumi said as she took out her fans and threw them at a boulder. As they flew a pink swirl of energy formed around each of them and continued to spread as the fans brushed against either side of the boulder and flew back into Yumi's hands. Yumi closed them and looked at the boulder puzzled. "Jeremie..." Yumi started to say as the boulder suddenly split into four pieces.

"For you we added an expanding ring of energy to each of your fans. The rings will expand until the peak of the throw then fade as your fans return to you. We also gave your telekinesis a boost. It's much more responsive now and small objects, like your fans, will move with little effort." Jeremie explained.

"Thanks Jeremie I can't wait to try it against XANA's monsters!" Yumi said excitedly.

"Alright Jeremie, I give up. How did you boost my abilities?" Ulrich said looking at his katana.

"Boosting your powers was a little tricky, the Super Sprint especially, but we managed to come up with something. You can charge your saber with energy now and release it in a slash of energy that will cut through anything by concentrating on your sword. It takes about 10 seconds to charge though so use it wisely. For your Super Sprint we had to get creative, now, if you charge your saber and use Super Sprint you'll turn into a sort of energy form that will cut anything you run through." Jeremie said.

"Alright let's try it." Ulrich said as he held his katana in front of him and concentrated. Energy began to form around the blade of his sword in a double-helix, after 10 seconds it reached the top. Ulrich tightened his grip and slashed as hard as he could sending a wave of energy flying forward. Everyone watched as it sliced through several pillars causing them to topple over. Ulrich looked at his sword. "XANA's toast." Ulrich said.

"Hopefully with some butter and jam!" Odd laughed at his lame joke. Everyone else let out a sigh.

"Anyway," Aelita said changing the subject. "What did you change for me?" Aelita asked.

"I'm sorry Aelita, Puck didn't feel comfortable messing with your code, or his for that matter, since both of your abilities were programmed by Franz Hopper, and I agreed. It wasn't worth the risk of causing an error in your Lyoko code or some other bug that could hurt you. We are looking into adding something for you, but for now I'm afraid you'll just have to be extra careful." Jeremie said.

"It's okay Jeremie. I don't really like fighting anyway..." Aelita's voice trailed off.

LATER THAT NIGHT Puck was walking down the dimly lit halls. It was almost midnight and everyone was asleep. _'I can't believe I slept all day... No matter. The new computers and network equipment isn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow.'_ Puck thought as he rounded the corner and nearly bumped into Jim.

"Whoa! Hey sorry about that almost bumped into you there." Puck said.

"Next time be more careful when you go around corners." Jim said as he took a step back and looked at who he was talking to. "Hey you're that new computer guy. What are you doing up?"

"Can't sleep. And based on what I've heard you must be Jim." Puck said.

"Yep that's me. And what's your name?" Jim asked.

"Everyone calls me Puck." Puck replied.

"So, heard about me have you? Did you hear about how I saved a bunch of orphans from a burning building a few years back?" Jim asked.

"No, what was that like?" Puck questioned.

"I'd rather not talk about it. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go make my rounds over at the student dorms." Jim said moving to walk around, but Puck stopped him.

"I'll go. I'm up anyway, besides all I have to do is make sure all the lights are out right? Why don't you go back to bed? From the looks of it you could use the rest." Puck chuckled.

"Very well... Thanks." Jim said as he turned and headed back to his room.

Puck chuckled to himself as he headed outside towards the student dorms. _'Wow, he's exactly how Odd described him.'_ Puck thought entering the building. All was quiet as he walked down the halls of the boys floor. No light coming through the cracks of the doors. Next he headed upstairs and checked the girls floor. Everything was quiet on the girls floor too until suddenly a young girl with red hair holding a teddy bear ran out of a room and slammed into Puck nearly knocking him over. The girl was on the brink of tears as Puck bent down and helped her off the floor.

"Hey there, are you okay?" Puck spoke softly. The girl just nodded as she tried to hold back the tears. "Can you tell me what your name is?"

"Milly." The girl said.

"Okay Milly I'm Puck. Now, what's wrong?" Puck asked.

"There's a monster in the closet." Milly replied with a sniffle.

"A monster eh? Well I'll take care of this, can you show me where your room is?" Puck held his hand out. Milly grabbed his hand and held it tight as she guided Puck to her room and pointed towards the closet door. Puck went over to the closet and looked inside seeing nothing but clothes and some stuffed animals. "Well I must have scared it off because it's not here anymore. I doubt it will come back so why don't you go back to bed?" Puck said.

"But there are still monsters around..." Milly said reluctantly.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Puck said standing up straight in a super hero pose.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

END

Episode Preview:

Aelita: Puck sweety? Why are you spending the night in Milly's room?

Puck! She was crying and scared and.. and... well one thing led to another and I fell asleep while reading her a story!

Aelita: I KNEW IT! YOU DID CHEAT ON ME! That's it! I'm leaving you! exits

Puck: Aw... honey don't be like that.. hey wait we're not dating... HEY GET BACK HERE! exits

Ulrich: uh.. anyway... while they sort that out please note that I am NOT telling you about the two XANA attacks next episode and I am NOT disclosing any information about Puck's vehicle or however attached to his body they may be. Furthermore...

Yumi: ULRICH! tackles Shut up!

Odd: Whoa! Get a room you two!

other: Heads up!

Odd: huh? OW! smacked in the face with a baseball

Jeremie: sipping tea Since everyone else is busy injuring themselves, getting injured, or injuring someone, I will tell you the contents of the next episode. You see...

What? It's over? Out of time? AW !


End file.
